Hey guys! This is the finished stained glass piece my awesome Mom made inspired by the theme of the Cageless Birds! Handmade, quality, beautiful! It's one of the rewards on my Kickstarter, and you can get it and support my project all at the same time! It will ship to you free, included in the backer price @ $750!

Beautiful!

Hey guys!

It's been 6 years since I recorded my last record, "Blow Over Me." I am headed into the studio (Threshingfloor Audio) February 23-27 to record my new songs, and capture the in-between unplanned moments! With me will be Luke and Molly Skaggs, Jake Stevens, Al Sergel, Austin Forbes, and Stephen Price, and behind me a whole bunch of amazing friends from my community making this dream happen. These are all incredible musicians, and even more importantly, incredible hearts. What an amazing privilege to do a project like this in family.

THE DEAL

This project is the first solo project being released under the umbrella of “Cageless Birds” (cagelessbirds.com). Cageless Birds is the artist collective of the community I am a part of in NC, led by Jonathan and Melissa Helser. We just celebrated the release of “Live At Home,” a collaborative project recorded in Jonathan and Melissa’s house. One of my songs, “The Lord is My Light” is on it! I have been a part of this community for 5 years, and it has long been a dream of ours that I do a full-length CD of my songs. The time has come!

MY SOUND

The heartbeat of my sound is this: Beloved. Belonging. Confidence in God’s love. Freedom. Childlike joy and wonder. Jesus. It’s worship, it’s meant to pull you into moments of encounter with God’s love. It’s structured, but it breathes spontaneous. It has boundaries in crafted beauty, but it runs free from that place as well. We have 9-10 songs we are planning to record, that we have been arranging and crafting the sound of, and we hope to capture a few extra tracks of new, unplanned moments.

OUR APPROACH

This will be a mostly live recording in a studio setting, with the core of the band engaging a moment in the songs together. I really want to capture that, and not build the songs from the ground up track by track for this project. However, we also plan to track additional layers of instruments afterwards, such as strings, horns, voices, a vibraphone or two! We are aiming at a creative approach, with a priority on authenticity and an experience of worshipping together.

MY NEEDS

I am so excited to do this! The dates are locked in and I have already raised a small portion of the funds to move ahead with. I need to raise an additional $15,000 on Kickstarter to bring this project to completion: mixed, mastered, printed and in your hands, and the hands of many others!

I am so excited to share in this blessing together, and to hear the many stories that will come of what God does in the hearts of men and women around the world. Thanks for partnering together with me in this dream! I can't do it without you.

-Joel Case

Here is a look at some of the backer rewards! All of the hand-made items are either from members of the band playing on this album, donated from members of Cageless Birds, or inspired by our collective (stained glass piece). I am so thankful for all these friends and I know you will love what they have been creating! Check it out!

Hand Sewn Leather Wallets by Lindsay Armistead “One of three hand sewn leather wallets made with recycled Brazilian and Italian leather. This wallet is an original design and will come in one of three colors: camel, slate blue and rustic gold."

Original Wood Panel Feather Artwork "Choose one of four original feather pieces created by my good friends, Chris and Jessie Phillips! Each piece is on a wood panel, two are 10 3/4” by 11 1/2”, and the others slightly larger, painted in this style"

Original Handmade Stained Glass Piece by my Mom! "This piece (shown in process) will feature a bluebird scene, in a similar style to the birds in the photos shown below. 18" by 21" with thin copper frame + two chains for hanging.”

(stained glass example)

(stained glass example)

Risks and challenges

Everything is in line: The dates are set, the band is prepared, the songs are written. I have several amazing and professional individuals in mind who are ready to mix, master, design, and print these albums! We're ready to roll!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $25 or more
About $25

PHYSICAL COPY OF THE NEW ALBUM + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $30 or more
About $30

1 TICKET TO THE ALBUM RELEASE CONCERT (aiming at end of 2014/beginning of 2015, in NC) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $35 or more
About $35

“BLOW OVER ME” PHYSICAL CD (my first CD) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $45 or more
About $45

CAGELESS BIRDS “Fly High. Build Home” T-SHIRT + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

CROCHETED BRAIDED HEADBAND handmade by Kateland Hilty (Cageless Birds) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR by Emily Pell (Cageless Birds) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

HAND STITCHED COPTIC JOURNAL by Lindsay Armistead (Cageless Birds) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

HANDMADE COWL by Justina Brinkley (Cageless Birds) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $70 or more
About $70

HAND SEWN LEATHER WALLET by Lindsay Armistead (Cageless Birds) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

ORIGINAL WOOD PANEL FEATHER ARTWORK by Chris & Jessie Phillips (Cageless Birds) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

SKYPE WITH LUKE SKAGGS AND JOEL CASE for 20 minutes about the record, worship, songwriting, and production + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

CEDAR STUMP SIDE TABLE by Jake Stevens & Justina Brinkley (Cageless Birds) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $350 or more
About $350

4 TICKETS TO THE ALBUM RELEASE CONCERT (aiming at end of 2014/beginning of 2015, in NC)
+ INVITATION BACKSTAGE to meet Joel Case, Jonathan & Melissa Helser, and the Cageless Birds community + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

HANDCRAFTED WOOD PEDAL BOARD by Jake Stevens (Cageless Birds) + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $750 or more
About $750

ORIGINAL STAINED GLASS Blue Bird Art Piece made by my Mom! + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

LUNCH AND TOUR OF "A PLACE FOR THE HEART" [An invitation to visit and see our land, “A Place for the Heart,” and have lunch with Joel Case, Jonathan & Melissa Helser, and other members of the Cageless Birds collective (you must get here on your own, but lunch is on us! 3 hour visit) Visit must be scheduled, and happen before the end of November, 2015] + Physical Copy of the New Album + Digital Download of the New Album (at least 2 weeks prior to the release date) + Digital Download of 3 Acoustic Demos of songs from the new album (several months before the release date)